Chinese Imports Reduced to Almost Half, Moving Towards China-Mukt Bharat: RPG Chairperson Harsh Goenka

Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, on Tuesday said the company has brought down its dependence on Chinese imports from 65% to 35% in the last two months and are aiming to move towards a “China-mukt (free) Bharat”.

Goenka is the chairperson of one of India’s oldest businesses, Rama Prasad Goenka Group, commonly known as RPG Group, an industrial and services conglomerate. The net revenue of the conglomerate is estimated to be more than Rs 25,500 crore.

“In one of our businesses, 65% of turnover came from Chinese imports. In the last two months, we have already brought it down to 35%. Onward march to take it as close to zero as possible. Let’s all give ‘Make in India’ a special thrust and make our country a ‘China-mukt Bharat’,” he said in a tweet.

Several Twitter users appreciated the move, reiterating that the dependency on Chinese goods must be minimised in order to become self-reliant. A few also pointed out that while such initiatives are needed, one must also keep in mind that the road is a long one.

In his address to the nation in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had advocated economic self-reliance, calling the mission Atma Nirbhar Bharat and emphasising on the importance of promoting local products. The government then announced an economic stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore to help the struggling sectors and to boost self-reliance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While announcing the contours of the Rs 20 lakh crore package, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had emphasised that it would spur growth. “Essentially, this is to spur growth and build a self-reliant India. That is why it is called Atma Nirbhar India. This package is focused on five pillars — economy, infrastructure, technology-driven systems, demography and demand. Accordingly, the focus will be what can be identified as factors of production — land, labour, liquidity and law,” she had said.

The Galwan Valley border clashes with China in June had given rise to another wave of anti-China sentiments. As the call to boycott Chinese products and promote local ones grew louder, the government focused its attention on Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and imports. The government also banned a host of Chinese social media apps over security concerns.